Solidarity - articles before 22 November 2002

One of the proposals coming out of the European Convention now in session is to rename the expanded European Union, which in a few years' time will number 25 member states, as the United States of Europe. The United States of Europe is what is in fact taking shape, and it would be good to call it that. Solidarity is emphatically for a United States of Europe. The united Europe we want is a Socialist United States of Europe, but even a bourgeois United States of Europe is better than the available (bourgeois) alternative: a Europe in which the conflicts between states such as France and Britain...

Avi Mayorek witnessed no atrocities while serving as an Israeli soldier in the Occupied Territories - no massacres, no killings of children. His family came to Israel after World War 2 from Poland, where, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, they faced continued anti-semitic persecution. He regards himself as an Israeli patriot. He believes that the Israeli state is one of the fairest and most easy-going in the world, for its Jewish citizens. Yet he has been prepared to defy his government, and majority Israeli public opinion, by refusing to serve with the Israeli army in the Occupied...

The liberal broadsheets have all but canonised Estelle Morris, following her resignation as Education Secretary. Raised on Manchester council estate, went to a local school, failed her "A" levels, taught at a tough comprehensive, understood teachers. Some readers no doubt were taking in by this and requested handkerchiefs to wipe away their tears. Most people who work in schools were looking for a sick bucket into which they could throw up. by Liam Conway The Guardian wheeled out Polly Toynbee to pour on the sugar coating. "There was real shock and sorrow at Estelle Morris's resignation, with...

The mass hostage-taking in Moscow was the latest incident in an unequal and increasingly brutal war between the Russian state and the breakaway Chechen Republic in the south of the country. Chechnya declared its independence in 1991. The following year it adopted a constitution defining it as an independent secular state. Concerned that other regions might follow Chechnya's lead, and also anxious to divert attention away from ongoing domestic economic problems, the then Russian President, Boris Yeltsin ordered Russian troops into Chechnya in 1994. One hundred thousand people, many of them...

I London bus demo I East Kilbride hospital strike I Edmonds retires I Norwich on strike London bus demo Hundreds of London bus drivers took part in a demonstration on 15 October to demand higher pay on the International Road Transport Day of Action. Their union - the TGWU - has been running a campaign to win parity on pay with London Underground drivers. The demand is part of the TGWU's "Busworkers' Charter". Bus drivers in London are paid an average of £17,000 a year. The erosion of pay since the privatisation of the late 1980s means bus drivers' pay has fallen by £120 a week compared with...

by Dale Street It was standing room only at a meeting organised by the Amicus Unity Gazette and MSF London Left on 20 October and addressed by Derek Simpson, the joint General Secretary-elect of Amicus. Simpson stressed the need for further democratisation of Amicus, the product of a merger between the MSF and the AEEU. The National Executive of the AEEU section of Amicus remains dominated by the right wing. And in the MSF section of Amicus, Roger Lyons and his hangers-on remain in control. The left is the merged union therefore needed to work together in the run-up to next year's National...

by a CWU member The 3,000 workers of the Cash Handling and Distribution division of the Post Office are being balloted for strike action over the privatisation of their work. The ballot of the cash handling workers takes place after unofficial action. They are certain to deliver a massive yes vote, and the ballot is due to be extended to the rest of the postal membership of the Communication Workers' Union. The Post Office could be facing a national strike against privatisation during the Christmas pressure period. How can we stop the campaign of these workers turning into another sell-out...

by Ed Whitby Workers at Arriva Trains Northern have been taking intermittent strike action for over ten months. The action forced Arriva to concede that a three per cent offer to conductors, retail and control staff was not good enough. However a new four per cent offer with strings attached was worse. The next strike by RMT members is planned for 2 November. It will coincide with the Newcastle Public Service Alliance demonstration. RMT and FBU members will lead that demonstration as well as having speakers on the platform. Arriva have given drivers an 18% pay rise, plus improved conditions...

by an ambulance worker Ambulance workers across the UK are in dispute over pay. Although a section of ambulance workers are covered by the national "Whitley Council" agreements, the vast majority negotiate pay locally with their ambulance trusts. These negotiation usually result in acceptance of a deal that follows the national lead. However this year several UNISON branches, including south and west Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales, and Sussex, are balloting for some form of industrial action. Over the past five years the work of ambulance crews, especially those doing emergency work, has changed...

A Solidarity reader's recollection of the first national Fire Brigade strike. Where were you in the winter of 1977-78? I was in Winchester on stand-by for the Isle of Wight in the fire strike. A young squaddie of nineteen, I'd just finished my driver-training near Hull, to ready me for driving the mighty Green Goddess. My Bedford Green Goddess was of 1953 vintage. Many fire-engine enthusiasts have newer appliances in their collection. I remember going down to Pompey and HMS Phoenix to do my firefighting course. It lasted one whole morning. We were shown round a Green Goddess and the Navy...